{"id":73546,"date":"2016-08-12T08:00:29","date_gmt":"2016-08-12T12:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=73546"},"modified":"2026-03-30T16:02:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:02:58","slug":"undefined-69","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/undefined-69\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Coaches Recall Their Olympics Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a special feeling shared by a select group of UCF coaches every four years when the Olympic Games roll around. Three members of the Knights\u2019 coaching staff have represented the United States as competitors in the Games.<\/p>\n

Head women\u2019s soccer coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak won an Olympic gold medal in women\u2019s soccer in 1996. Head women\u2019s track and field coach Jeanette Bolden was a member of the gold-medal winning 4×100-meter relay team in 1984. Assistant track and field\/cross country coach Johnny Gray won a bronze medal in the 800 meters in 1992. Bolden was also the U.S. Olympic team\u2019s head women\u2019s track and field coach in 2008.<\/p>\n

They\u00a0are looking forward to watching the competition over the next few weeks. There\u2019s a good chance that seeing the competition in Rio de Janeiro<\/a>, the medal presentations and the opening and closing ceremonies will bring a flood of great memories back for each of these Olympic Knights.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an experience that is so hard to put into words,\u201d Bolden said. \u201cIt\u2019s a feeling of ultimate accomplishment because you\u2019ve dreamed about it, you\u2019ve sacrificed for it. It finally came true. You\u2019re in the opening ceremonies and you\u2019re just in awe. That\u2019s all you can do is say \u2018Wow!\u2019 and be in awe of walking with the USA [gear] on.\u201d<\/p>\n

After winning her gold medal, Sahaydak and her teammates were sent back to the locker room to change into their medal presentation uniforms. She said returning into the stadium was surreal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember coming back out on to the field, I will never forget that moment,\u201d she said. \u201cWith all the fans in the stadium and all the cameras flickering, it looked like stars shining in the night. It\u2019s something you dream of. It was pretty intense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gray had a rather pragmatic view on the experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see all of these other countries and you\u2019re actually representing the U.S. of A,\u201d he said. \u201cWe go out and we have friendly competition with other parts of the country in a sport that is giving to the world. We\u2019re sharing with the world that we don\u2019t have to fight like we see on television. It\u2019s about just trying to perform at the best of your abilities, and then afterwards, everybody shakes hands\u2026at the end, we\u2019re still human. We\u2019re still one as a people, and we can still love and exist together. Love one another and exist together. That is the feeling that I got from the Olympics.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Bolden, Gray and Sahaydak all competed in the Olympics more than 20 years ago, those experiences certainly help their respective UCF programs in a number of ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe culture that we have here at UCF, a lot of that has been developed through my experiences with the national team,\u201d Sahaydak said. \u201cWe had unbelievable leadership, not just from the coaches but also from my teammates. That is where I learned my leadership skills. I rely on those experiences every day in order to be the best coach I can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gray doesn\u2019t bring up his Olympic experience, but focuses his recruiting pitch on what UCF offers a prospective student-athlete. But that\u2019s not to say it doesn\u2019t come up in conversation. Gray has also coached Olympians, which can resonate with recruits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese kids weren\u2019t born when I was running,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce they find out that I\u2019m from the Olympics, it definitely helps. That\u2019s definitely something good to have on your resume. I say \u2018Not only am I a coach, but I\u2019ve been where you are as an athlete. I know what you\u2019re feeling; I know what you\u2019re going through. I know what it takes to try to win.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Bolden said when she talks to a student-athlete who has the ability to be an Olympian, her experience competing and coaching in the Games makes an impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I talk to them, I tell them \u2018I didn\u2019t read about the Olympics; I experienced it firsthand. That\u2019s something that I can tell you that some of the other coaches can\u2019t tell you,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cBeing a coach in the 2008 Olympics, I can tell them what goes on from the coaching side. So yes, I definitely use that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a special feeling shared by a select group of UCF coaches every four years when the Olympic Games roll around. Three members of the Knights\u2019 coaching staff have represented the United States as competitors in the Games. Head women\u2019s soccer coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak won an Olympic gold medal in women\u2019s soccer in 1996. Head women\u2019s track and field…","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":73547,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,26],"tags":[10222,10941,4321,9944,7947],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-73546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-sports","tag-jeanette-bolden","tag-johnny-gray","tag-soccer","tag-tiffany-roberts-sahaydak","tag-track-and-field"],"yoast_head":"\nUCF Coaches Recall Their Olympics Days | UCF News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There\u2019s a special feeling shared by a select group of UCF coaches every four years when the Olympic Games roll around. 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